12:30pm Tuesday 9th February 2010
By Jon Austin
MP John Baron failed to provide Parliament with annual mortgage statements for more than two years, it was revealed in letters leaked to the Echo.
Shamed Tory Mr Baron has been forced to pay back £8,821 in interest from a June 2004 re-mortgage, which released £34,035 of equity from his Noak Bridge second home, as reported on Friday.
We have now seen two letters from the Commons’ Fees Office sent to Mr Baron in 2007 which were not published by Parliament as part of his expenses file when details of all MPs’ claims went online last summer.
They show the department had concerns about the level of interest being paid. The first, sent on July 17, 2007, said mortgage interest statements were needed annually.
It added: “Unfortunately, the relevant documentation which we hold is dated March 2, 2005.
“I should be grateful if you would provide us with your most recent mortgage interest statement as soon as possible.”
Yet a statement from Mr Baron’s office last week said: “The fees office had copies of annual mortgage interest statements.”
A second letter sent by the same fees officer on October 31, 2007, asked: “I note that the mortgage interest has increased and therefore I should be grateful if you would provide us with copies of documentation from your lender in support of this.”
Mr Baron refused to comment on the letters or say if he supplied the information.
In an appeal against paying back the cash Mr Baron argued his remortgage was agreed by the Fees Office and the money he was paid was instead of other expenses he chose not to claim.
Sir Paul Kennedy, a former High Court judge who rejected the appeal, said there was no doubt Mr Baron broke the expenses rules.
It is still not clear what the money was borrowed was for.
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